Lost Wax Casting: Turning Wax Into Silver

Lost Wax Casting:

The Art of Turning Wax into Silver

One of the questions I get asked most often in the comments is: "But how does a jewel made of wax become silver?" Today I will try to explain in a simple and clear way the process of lost wax casting.

To show you each step, I went to Marco's workshop, where he casts all my jewelry. The first step is to create the wax models . If it's a new design, the wax is modeled from scratch. However, in these photos, I will show you wax models created from a mold.

The Mold

Once the prototype of the jewel is made, a mold is created to replicate the model. This mold is a piece of yellow rubber, as you can see in the photos. The process to create a wax model is simple: you inject hot wax into the mold using a machine called a wax injector and wait for the wax to solidify.

The Wax Tree

Once the wax models are obtained, they are assembled on a main trunk , forming a structure that resembles a tree. This arrangement allows for casting multiple jewels at the same time.

In the cylinder

After completing the wax tree, it is placed inside a cylinder.

Which is then coated and sealed to allow the next step...

Plaster casting

Next, liquid plaster will be poured inside, a refractory material that will create a solid shape around the wax tree.

In the oven

The cylinder with the plaster is then placed in a high-temperature oven for several hours. The heat melts the wax, which is removed through drains, leaving a void inside the plaster. This void exactly reproduces the shape of the wax jewelry that was there before.

Ready for metal casting

After about eight hours inside the oven the cylinder is ready to receive the metal, in this case silver which is melted and poured into the empty plaster mould.

FUSION

The liquid metal flows through the main channel of the shaft and fills the cavities created by the wax patterns.

Plaster breakage

Once the silver has cooled and solidified, the plaster is broken to reveal the silver jewelry tree .

The silver tree

At this point we can observe the magic of lost wax casting; the tree that was previously in wax can now be observed in every detail in silver.

"To unshrink"

The next step is called "unbundling" and consists of separating the jewels from the tree.

Each piece is then finished with great care, through processes such as finishing, welding, polishing or other finishes. Until obtaining the finished jewel! To discover the steps after and before the lost wax casting click here !!